The lines we crossed
by Challia
Summary: Something that I'd love to see before the season 3 ends. Takes place just before the war with Woodbury.
1. Chapter 1

So I wrote this a while ago. It takes place while the prison group is preparing for a war with Woodbury. It's basically 1st draft, gonna make changes into it, because I think there's so much to improve. I just had to put on paper my thoughts and feeling about what's I hope to come with our favourite pair at the end of this season. Please be gentle. I never published any of my work before, although I've been writing for a long time (I wrote some Dragon Age and LOST FanFiction a while back). Also, English isn't my first language so dialogues might be a bit stiff, but as I said, I am working on it. Just want your opinion guys if I should continue or not. Writing Caryl stuff is catharthic to me. I wanna keep going but if I write shit, probably it's not worth the effort:P. Anyway, chapter 1 is here for you to have a look, enjoy.

Red sun was fading slowly. The sunset was beautiful and quiet. Probably one of the last so peaceful and colorful evenings this fall. Soon the temperature will drop, and rainy, unpleasant days will approach. It was already cold in the nights and the first signs of falling leaves were to be seen around the prison courtyard. Soon the group will have to figure how to survive the winter here, in these cold and damp prison walls. If they all survive Woodbury, that is.

You look around the prison block, a place which became a home to you, not by the choice but by the need. A place that was supposed to be a safe haven for all of you. A safe place to have the baby born. But Lori died here. Safe and strong walls and fences - yet they didn't stop the herd of walkers to storm here and kill T-Dog. Tall watchtowers and lots of spots to observe, keep a lookout. Yet Axel was shot and you lost another friend. Finally a place that could be a perfect hideout, a secret place, a safe place. But Merle found you. Governor found you. Attacked you and now you are on the brink of war. You will fight for your life and the life of those who became so dear to you. You close your eyes. How did it come to this..?

You take a look at the people around you. The room is quiet, everyone seems to be lost in their own thoughts. Michonne is cleaning her katana which is already clean enough. Hershel is reading Bible in the dim light of a candle. Beth sings quietly and cradles Judith. But you can hear her voice breaking. Maybe the song is too sad. You recognize "Safe and sound". Rick watches her intently. But you know his thoughts are elsewhere. In another place and time. Maybe with the Governor, maybe with Andrea and Woodbury. Maybe with Lori. Maybe in times before all the world went to hell. Glenn and Maggie are nowhere to be seen, probably enjoying the last peaceful moments together in their own way. Merle though seems the only one calm in the current situation. He snores silently in his cell and you wonder how can he sleep in peace when war is approaching. But he is a Dixon, tough by definition. A little smirk forms on your mouth, as you think "of course he is". You know his brother is on watch with Carl right now and you suddenly feel the urge to go find him, see how is he dealing with this situation, or just be around him for a while. Because tomorrow they would all fight and you will most likely be inside watching over Judith, that's the role Rick assigned to you. And that is a big responsibility. You're not too happy about this, not that you want to be on the front lines but you know you shoot well and could be useful. And you could be close to Daryl, keep an eye on him, know that he is safe. You sigh. You know the baby needs you more.

Your watch starts in an hour. You go to your cell to pick up a jacket, the night will be cold. Going out, you hear Beth singing "My heart will go on" now. How sentimental. How hopeless in this current situation. Still beautiful.

As you emerge outside cold air hits you violently. Cold wind and some rain drops. "What month is it" you wonder. Probably end of September, time stopped to mean anything long ago. And for you time stopped probably before everyone else felt it. When Sophia died. You thought then that it won't matter again if it's Monday or Tuesday, if its 7 or 9 am, if it's winter or spring. This was a part of the rest of normal lives you all pretended to be having back at the farm. But you knew then, that nothing will be normal ever again. Yet the days went by and Rick still wore his old watch, Glenn found a calendar somewhere in the prison block and crossed out day by day, Hershel still read the Bible out loud when you thought it was Sunday. Maybe some parts of the old world were still alive.

Deep in your thoughts you don't notice a dark figure in the front and you stumble right into Daryl's back. He turns back instantly and you see a knife in his hand.

"Jesus, Carol, you tryin' to get me a heart attack?"

"Looks like you lost your guard. Thought nothiug could surprise you. But yea sorry, I wasn't trying to sneak around, it was just..stupid"

This sudden contact caught both of you off guard. Even though you have been through so much together, you fought for life, laughed and cried together...physical contact is something both you and Daryl always preferred to avoid. Like your bodies were a forbidden territory. Like it could disturb this weak bond that you established back at the farm and which strengthened through last winter. Like it could start an avalanche of feelings that would be hard to stop.

"What you doin' here, your watch starts in an hour?"

"Needed some air, sitting inside and waiting to be attacked is depressing".

He looks at you with a questioning face. You can see rain droplets on his cheeks. He smells of nicotine and you wonder where the hell he found cigarettes. Although you don't really smoke, you could use on at that moment.

"Mind sharing a cigarette?"

"you smoke?"

"Nah"

He grunts and reaches out for a pack of Camels and a lighter and next thing you expect him to do is just hand it to you but instead he approaches you and lightens the cigarette for you. For a moment you stand very close, so close you can almost smell leather, dust, sweat and fuel...everything that resembles Daryl. Sometimes at night, when you can't sleep you wonder how would it feel to feel those hands around your hips, to feel his breath on your lips, and to see in his eyes something more than just plain friendship and polite interest. There are days and evenings, times spent on guard together, either in watchtower or just walking the perimeter..times when you talk for hours, you laugh at the past, at things that used to be important to you then..in these moments you can almost see something more in his blue eyes. Eyes that almost never remain contact, but are always watching you.

"You think they're gonna attack?"

"Yea, I don't think we scare them. That Governor is a nutso, anything can happen really"

"I'm scared"

You have no idea how those words left your mouth. For the past year you did everything to prove yourself and the group that you became strong, that after all the shit that has happened to you, you will not let anything to break you again. And now you say Woodbury scares you. And you say that to Daryl who least of all people should be aware how shattered you really are at this moment. Least of all should he worry about **you** at this moment.

And then he surprises you.

"I'm scared too"

You turn your head to look at him but you do it too fast and a small ember from the cigarette falls on your cheek. You drop your cigarette and your hand instinctively brushes it away, but the pain remains and Daryl notices it.

"Let me see"

"It's nothing"

"C'mon, let me see, it may leave a mark"

"It's just a burn Daryl, no big deal, a proof that smoking is bad"

You try to turn this whole situation into joke but Daryl isn't laughing.

His hand slowly travels to your face as he steps closer. Suddenly something changes in the air around you. The night is cold but the tension makes the air stiff, heavy, thick. You become unaware of all the sounds other than you and Daryl breathing, you stop noticing all the Walkers surrounding the prison, and you forget of all the people in the cell block. In this moment your eyes only see him. Your look follows the movement of his hand towards your face and when he finally touches you, your eyes close. The skin on his fingers is rough, coarse. And you feel lightheaded. Your world is spinning. Even though not much is really happening, the idea of the two of you sharing an intimate moment like this, is a bit overwhelming. And you know, you know that Daryl's fingers rest on your face for a second longer than it's needed, his breath on your face is an inch too close, and his voice when he finally speaks is a bit too low, and sounds like a whisper.

"Looks like a small burn, but won't leave a mark..Ehm, I should probably..."

Your eyes can't leave his. You nod, but you don't really care what he is saying. Probably wants to ditch, run off. He must have felt all this change in the atmosphere too, it was pretty obvious. And you realize that this time you can't let him go and later pretend that nothing ever happened between you. Because whatever it was, whatever you've had, it had been growing for months. It started with a Cherokee rose and led you both here, to this place and this night. So when Daryl takes his step to walk passed you, you grab his wrist and he stops. You both don't say a word. Words mean nothing. You simply look at him and he knows. Everything that is unspoken is in simple things, gestures, looks, smiles, things like that. He knows you well and you know him. And that look in his eyes, right there, in this moment, he knows this current situation is different. Until now you both knew where you stood. whatever comes next, will change your relation forever.

you hold on to his wrist afraid to let go. Afraid that he will run away from you. You want to prolong this moment but at the same time you know that you are done waiting. You were both going around each other in circles for months, sharing innocent small-talks, prolonged looks over the fire, shy gifts of food or casual cleaning guns for each other. The group already treats you like a couple, only you never were one. And this is the moment to find out if you ever will be.

So you lift your chin and bring your lips to his. You have no idea what to expect, nothing is ever sure with Daryl. His body stiffens and he takes a step back. He inhales deeply but doesn't break the contact. But he also doesn't respond . You kissed him delicately, with closed mouth, it's more just a brush of lips than actual kiss but you both know that you crossed a line which distinguished your close friendship from something more. Seeing as Daryl doesn't really cooperate you move away from him and let go of his wrist. His face shows a complete shock. He looks stunned, or charmed or terrified, all at once.

"Daryl.."

"why?"

"Daryl I'm sorry"

"Why did you do that Carol?" He almost yells at you. Clearly, you misjudged him. He didn't want any of this to happen.

"I am sorry. Oh God, I'm sorry..".

You leave him with this, feeling like a complete idiot. You risked your relation with Daryl for your personal desires and ruined it all.

As you run towards nearest guard tower you hear him calling your name. But you don't stop and don't look back. You are aware of making a total fool of yourself, not to mention you probably distracted him greatly. In the eve of battle. This could put all of the group in danger. Personal problems is something they all should not be thinking right now, even though Daryl is always everything you can think of. He is always in your thoughts, no matter what the situation. And you know that when war finally approaches, there will be no choices, no second thoughts for you. He will always be most important. And you wanted to show him this tonight but clearly things didn't go well. You can only hope he got the idea.


	2. Chapter 2

You walk through prison's courtyard fast and almost unaware of the rain that pours heavily now. And you can't get rid of the sensation of Daryl's lips on yours. Funny thing, you've thought about this moment so many times, worrying that you will scare him, that he will run away, build his walls again and just hide from you..and now you find yourself running away. You remember his face, how shocked and stunned he appeared and you just can't look him straight in the eye now. You have uncovered your feelings for him and Daryl clearly didn't see that coming. You feel a bit better though knowing that he is probably the same mess as you at the moment.

You were not sure if he returns your feelings in any way. You were just always aware of his closeness - he was like your shadow most of the time, he was always protective over you, always making sure you wouldn't be in any danger. Truth is, he was like that towards everyone in the group. But there was something between you two that always made your relation unique. And it was not necessarily because of the fact that you both had sad past, filled with abuse and neglect, not even because of everything that happened with Sophia. You were just both lonely, you missed human contact and you were well aware of the opposite sex around you, close at once so far. And you both knew exactly where this was leading. It was just a matter of time.

You approach the watchtower and get inside. You will have a good look on the surroundings from the top of it. There will also probably be windy as hell but you know there's a spare sleeping bag and a blanket there, just in case. So you pull the blanket over your shoulders, check if your gun is loaded, and prepare for a long night. Your watch starts now.

As your eyes scan the perimeter and the fence line for any signs of Walkers or simply anything unusual, you can't help but wonder what will change now between the two of you. How will your poor attempt to seduce him will affect your relation. Were you really trying to seduce him? Your common sense tells you "no, of course not, I just wanted to know where we stand". But the other part of you, the one that keeps you awake at night to just listen to his breath and watch how his chest moves up and down when he sleeps, the part that makes your eyes last on his hips when he walks, the part of you that makes you lick your lips unconsciously when he talks to you...this part knows that what you really want, what you wanted all along, is to finally be with him in other way than just friends. Daryl is an attractive man and he isn't even aware of this. You wonder how his private life must have looked before the apocalypse. Judging by his brother, it wasn't probably too romantic. Nor it was easy. You sigh. You still don't know much about the man who became so important to you.

Lost in your thoughts and trying to overcome the dampness and cold around you, you almost miss the weak sound of footsteps on the stairs. You turn around fast, you hold the gun firmly, pointing it steadily in front of you, prepared to face whatever is going to walk through the door now. But when the door opens, the is no Woodbury grunt, no lost Walker, not even any wandering friend from the prison. It's just Daryl, standing there completely wet from the rain, panting heavily as if he's been running, but it seems that he's not been running from something or someone, but to someone. He closes the door behind him and takes a small step to your direction, but you don't lower your gun, you just stare at him. As if your brain doesn't have time to process the fact that Daryl is here, that he ran to you just after you kissed him in the yard. He came here running. To you.

"Hey..it's just me. It's me Carol"

His voice is gentle and he takes another step to you, his hand touches your wrist and slowly lowers your gun. Your fingers give up then, and the revolver drops on the concrete. But Daryl's hand doesn't let go. For a moment you both just stand there looking at one another with tension. And then you feel it. The certainty that this is that moment when you both have to stop pretending, stop running away, stop lying to yourselves. That the only person holding you back from what you want is yourself.

And you see it in Daryl's face too. In one swift moment you let go of all the restraints and everything that kept you at bay for so long, and a second later you find yourself lost in his embrace. Your lips meet instinctively and this time there's no hesitation from him, his body is still a bit tensed but slowly he lets his nature to take the lead. So he opens his mouth for you and your tongues meet and start this taunting, never ending dance that forces you to clench your fingers on his arm, to slightly moan against his lips and even though it's cold, and rain is pouring down like crazy now it all doesn't matter, when your skin is burning and your heart is pounding. You can feel his hands going up and down your back, trying to find their way to the smallest part of exposed skin You feel the urge to touch him too, and you need it soon so you push him gently inside the room, your lips and hands never leaving his. A part of you is aware that whatever you are about to do will change your relationship forever. But it's too late to turn back now. You won't think of the cost now, of the fact that you both are on your best way to catch pneumonia or worse, and you won't think what possible consequences of this step can be and the fact that what you wouldn't want for sure is another baby. All this becomes irrelevant when Daryl's mouth leave yours only to move to your neck and suck and bite on it delicately. His right hand is behind your neck now, holding it firmly, while his left palm moved under your jacket somehow and is still trying to find some access to your skin. "we need to take these clothes off" you think, and with this you start unbuttoning his shirt. Your hands are shaking. So he helps you out and soon his jacket, vest and shirt land on the floor where his crossbow and gun already are. And your own jacket soon follows. Just a second before you decide to pull your tank top over your head you lift your head to look at him. Is he sure? Is that what he wants? Or maybe it's just a spark of the moment? Who are you really for him? A dear friend? A mother figure who he never had? A woman who lost everything she possibly could but still is able to enjoy life? A woman with hopes and desires just like everybody else? And who is he to you? Scenes from the past that you shared flash before your eyes. The moment when you first saw him in Atlanta - cold, angry and violent man who didn't care about anything or anyone except for his brother. The way he looked at you when you pickaxed Ed's head. Sophia running for the woods and his unbreakable will to find her. His wounds. His scars. The look he gave you when you kissed his forehead the other night. Cherokee roses. Dale's horrible death. Hershel's farm in flames and both of you riding on his motorcycle into the unknown future. When you got lost in the catacombs, when he found you, carried you to safety. And an enormous feeling of loss when he decided to leave with Merle. Something died inside of you then, and it was the only time since the Walkers took the world, when you thought - now there really is no reason to go on. Without him in your life you just felt hollow. Empty. And you never want to feel it again. So you just tell him simply:

"Daryl..if we do this, everything will change"

You must be sure he understands that.

And he just simply says:

"Then let it change".

He is surely full of surprises. You were expecting him to be reluctant, tensed, awkward and you look into his eyes and you see there everything you need to know. A confirmation. Yes, we are going to do it. Yes it is right because it feels right. So you don't hesitate anymore, you pull your tank top over your head and he goes back to kissing you again, faster, harder, louder. You know that you will have to lie on the floor, bless Rick for bringing the extra sleeping bag here earlier today. You break the kiss, take Daryl's hand and guide him there. He kicks off his boots on the way. This time when your lips and tongues connect again, you feel him pressing his whole body against you, your curves matching perfectly his rough edges. And now you feel like it is very hot in here, too hot to handle and you just need to take the rest of your clothes off. Your skin cries out for his, every part of you wants to feel him as close as possible and somehow you rolled over so you're in his lap now, your fingers in his hair pulling and stroking and you hear him moan into your lips again. His hands caress your skin on your back, and travel to unclasp your bra and take it off. you close your eyes now. You are starting to feel exposed but it doesn't feel wrong. It feels completely right. Everything about this whole moment is right. Perfect in a way. Even this cold concrete walls of the watch tower. Even the rain behind the windows. Even the fact that you're wearing now very worn black underwear, nothing special or fancy. And this man with you here now. He is perfect too. It doesn't matter that his moves are now erratic, his breath is deeper and louder, you're starting to feel a bit dizzy and you both know that it all probably won't last long. This need for connection, for something more than innocent flirting, it brought you here together and is about to reach its climax finally. You reach to his zipper and now your moves become clumsy again, you realize that you are in fact nervous. And he helps you out again, like taking off his pants in front of you was the most natural thing in the world. Your zipper and jeans soon follow. You can feel his tongue on your breasts and you wonder for a second if this is really happening. Daryl's hands find your hips and finally you know how it feels to have him touch you in those places that were only touched by one man before, so long ago that you almost forgot. You get rid of the last remaining clothes that separate you and you open your eyes to look at him. And that's when you know it. It's all written on his face now. He is afraid to take this step with you, but motivated to take it. To finally feel something good in his life. Because he never really felt anything like this before. He never had a real girlfriend. He never was on a real date. He never made love properly. And he is scared to fail you. And you are scared too. But you will go through this together, just like through everything else. Only this time it's not some drastic and terrifying experience, it's something new for both of you and no matter what, it's going to be beautiful and meaningful. His hands rest on your thighs, eyes full of anticipation..So you position yourself on his lap and a few moments later your hips are brought together and your bodies finally connect. He inhales deeply and you close his mouth with a passionate kiss but you got problems breathing yourself. Your heart is beating like crazy, you feel impossibly hot but your body knows what to do and slowly you start to move. You bring his head to your chest, your fingers curled in his hair again, his hands on your shoulder blades steadying you against him. You start to feel the pressure to build inside you and you know you cannot stop it. You both breath heavily and he rolls you so that now he is hovering above and starts to move faster. His moves aren't erratic anymore. You don't want to close your eyes now, you want to see him coming there, for the first time with you. And soon it happens. All the tension that has been between you, all the stress they all lived in, finally is reaching release. And as the world becomes blurry for you as well and you start to scream his name, you are already sure of one thing. Maybe you are both imperfect, you had your ups and downs in life. But you are perfect together. And this moment is a proof of this.

Later that night you both silently lie in that old Rick's sleeping bag. Daryl's lips lightly touch your naked shoulder. You listen to the rain and wonder how life can be so tricky. So unfair sometimes. Maybe you and Daryl found themselves but you had to pay a huge price for this. And who knows what will happen tomorrow. Will they survive? Will they have a night like this again?

"You cold? Daryl's voice sounds rugged and unclear, almost sleepy.

"Huh?"

"You're shakin'"

"I'm not cold. I just don't want the morning to come."

"It will come. And even tho it was by far the best watch I ever had, guess we should sleep. "

"Yea. We should".

You smile but your smile is pale. You don't want to waste those precious minutes with Daryl on sleeping but you know he is right.

You can only hope that whatever awaits you tomorrow, you will meet again in this watchtower on a rainy night like now, this time without a death threat and a constant fear for your lives.

**THE END**


End file.
